bibliofiend's Full Review: Carolyn J. Male - 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the Am...
By far the most popular vegetable--er, fruit--that North Americans grow in their home gardens is the once scorned tomato. Nowadays, the majority of the tomatoes grown are red, hybrid and fairly disease and crack resistant varieties. Most are, without a doubt, excellent tasting, much better than the "tomatoes" found in the local supermarket--even during prime tomato season--yet for those who have grown and enjoyed heirloom tomatoes, even these hybrids (and a few open-pollinated varieties) are second rate.
I'll admit, I have yet to grow more than one heirloom varieties--something will change this summer, should the weather in these parts ever decide to return to seasonal. That one variety is a German commercial variety known as Matina, about which I will mention more in a moment.
There is a growing movement of tomato growers who are becoming interested in heirloom tomatoes, and since knowledge about all of the varieties of heirlooms--some of which have sadly been lost--has declined as gardeners turned to more dependable hybrids, books like Carolyn J. Male's 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden is a welcomed and important work.
The author, a professor of microbiology, is one of the most knowledgeable enthusiast of the heirloom tomato, and has apparently herself grown c. 1200 varieties. It is her passion of the heirloom, along with her extensive experience and her committed effort to researching the origins of numerous heirloom varieties, that led her to compile this book of one hundred varieties that she feels are the best that both the experienced and neophyte heirloom tomato grower will enjoy growing.
Central to the book is, of course, the section dealing with the individual varieties, but one should not over look the beginning of the book where the author deals with matters such as the history of the tomato, saving seeds and creating your own heirlooms in a clear and understandable manner.
Most people who get their hands on this book will, no doubt, do what I did and start with the "field guide".
The heirloom varieties are arranged in alphabetical order, and for each there are two pages, one with a brief description, and the other with a beautiful colour photograph.
Each description is fairly short, perhaps three or four short paragraphs and is followed by information sorted by following categories: type, origin, maturity, colour/shape, size/arrangement, yield, plant/foliage, taste, seeds (availability). Each photo is that of an entire stem that has been removed so that one can see how the fruit is clustered, as well as the type of foliage; in some cases one of the tomatoes has been sliced so that one cane see what the insides of the given variety looks like.
Since I have yet to grow a significant number of heirlooms, it is difficult for me to comment on the Male's choice of varieties. I do wish, however, that I would have made more of an effort to get my hands on this book before I ordered my seeds (which I did in a manner that I believe most people do, by basing my opinion on the little blurb that the seedhouse includes with the variety, no to mention the name (I also chose by stated place of origin (Germany and Russia).) One variety that I would definitely chosen was Black From Tula, a dark reddish/black with green shoulders midseason variety from the Ukraine. Others of note are Hungarian Oval, Marizol Gold, and Orange Strawberry.
That one heirloom variety that I have grown--having purchased the seeds unaware that it was an heirloom--is called Matina. Although this variety bears uniform 4 to 6 oz. red fruits, and is quite prolific, I did not find it to be the most enjoyable of tomatoes. I therefore was a little surprised to find it among the one hundred chosen for this volume. (It must be noted that several varieties that the author claim to be "highly recommended", such as Jeff Davis, Fritz and Old Virginia could not be included in the because they were "not available for photographing".)
I have no hesitation in saying that 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden is an excellent resource for anyone wishing to get into heirloom tomatoes, or even those who simply have a passion for vegetable gardening.
Subscribe to More Reviews on Carolyn J. Male - 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden Get the RSS Feed: - Add to My Yahoo!: - Add to Google Homepage:
Subscribe to bibliofiend's Reviews: Get the RSS Feed: - Add to My Yahoo!: - Add to Google Homepage:
PriceTool.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources,
so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
